Britain’s ousted ex-prime minister David Cameron has claimed U.S. President Donald Trump’s opposition to mainstream ‘fake news’ is “dangerous” at a lecture organised by one of George Soros’s organisations.
Giving a speech to Transparency International, the Tory grandee claimed that “thanks to the growth of technology and the increasing domination of social media, propaganda, misinformation and ‘fake news’ [have been] able to get a foothold” in the public discourse.
“And let me say this: when Donald Trump uses the term ‘fake news’ to describe CNN and the BBC, that is not just a questionable political tactic,” he complained.
“It’s actually dangerous.”
The toppled ex-premier conceded hastily that “Of course broadcasters make mistakes and it’s right they correct them,” but quickly added that “what is being attempted here goes far beyond that. It’s an attempt to question the whole legitimacy of organisations that have an important role in our democracy.
“Let me put it like this. President Trump: ‘Fake news’ is not broadcasters criticizing you, it’s Russian bots and trolls targeting your democracy … pumping out untrue stories day after day, night after night.”
Mr Cameron’s indulgence of the Russia conspiracy during his speech taps into a popular narrative among globalists and left-liberals on both sides of the Atlantic, with Democrats in the U.S. blaming “the Russians” for their defeat in the U.S. presidential elections, and EU loyalists in Britain blaming their defeat in the Brexit referendum on them as well.
Indeed, Cameron complained that “anti-globalisation sentiment was reflected in some of the votes for Brexit in Britain, Trump in America, populist parties across Europe and strongmen systems across the world” elsewhere in his speech.
His timing may have been ill-judged, however, with an Electoral Commission investigation into supposed Russian meddling in Britain finding the allegedly Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency “troll farm” spent less than one dollar on Facebook ads during the EU referendum.
Their immigration-themed content, which did not reference Brexit directly, is thought to have been viewed by only 200 people or so.
But it is perhaps understandable that Mr Cameron might be eager to look to Moscow to explain the outcome of the 2016 referendum, with the Brexit movement’s shock victory — despite his decision to spend over £9m in taxpayers’ money on a government campaign in supporte of a Remain vote — brought his political career to an abrupt end.